How Wargaming Sells to the Japanese Market

I’ve attended various conventions and expos where Wargaming has featured but nothing’s compared to my experience with the brand at Tokyo Game Show 2015. Wargaming took a different approach with presenting their games to the Japanese crowd and for someone like myself who loves the culture and entertainment in this country, it grabbed my attention as well.

I’m not a big World of Tanks player. I’ve had my fair share of exposure with the game but the marketing they’ve done for the game at Tokyo Game Show was really quite impressive. With a market filled with anime and manga, Wargaming took the approach where they’ve integrated that culture with the current games to sell it to this particular audience.

The best collaboration and probably the most obvious is the one with Girls und Panzer which is an anime that features tanks and girls. It’s pretty much a no-brainer for Wargaming to team up with this franchise to sell the game as the series has a current following and it relates to their game. During the show, we were given special edition mangas from Wargaming which feature the girls playing the pc and mobile version of the game.

The stands were literally covered with the cross collaboration promo and speaking to Chris Cook – NA Wargaming Director of Communications about the situation – it seems Wargaming really read the audience and found a way to sell their game. They didn’t stop there, however, as Wargaming announced that they will be working with the creators of the anime to collaborate on making the Girls und Panzer film.

Recently, the company has also finally released World of Warships on the PC and has also worked coincide another anime to sell the game to the Japanese market. Since they collaborated with Girls und Panzer – why not follow the same with their latest game? Arpeggio of Blue Steel is an anime with again… girls and battleships, which is another great choice for pushing the game into this particular market.

With a culture filled with mobile titles and heavyweight Japanese developers, the cross promotion with these popular anime and manga series is a sure-fire way to win the hearts and minds of the market. With World of Tanks announced for the PlayStation 4 as well during TGS, Wargaming has the right mindset to tackle this part of the world.